Few would dispute the claim of "War and Peace" to be regarded as the greatest novel in any language. This massive chronicle, to which Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) devoted five whole years shortly after his marriage, portrays Russian family life during and after the Napoleonic war. Tolstoy's faith in life and his piercing insight lend universality to a work which holds the mirror up to nature as truly as those of Shakespeare or Homer.

About the Author&colon;

Count Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy was born in 1828. He wrote THE SEBASTOPOL SKETCHES in 1855-6, WAR AND PEACE in 1865-8, ANNA KARENINA in 1874-6 and A CONFESSION in 1879-82. He died in 1910. Translated by Rosemary Edmonds